San Jose officials are hard-pressed to find an alternative site for the Berryessa Flea Market as development is set to displace vendors and threaten their livelihoods.
The city has explored two of eight potential locations — the former Sears near Eastridge Mall and a former landfill in South San Jose — but they lack substantial enough benefits to move forward with, according to a relocation study from consultants hired by the city. Downtown Manager Nathan Donato-Weinstein told flea market vendors and representatives during a Wednesday advisory group meeting the city didn’t wait for the final version of the study to be done before investing resources to explore the alternative sites.
The two sites are similar in size to the existing flea market — about 65 acres with vendors taking up 20 acres — but each comes with its own set of obstacles. City officials said property owners of the former Sears location want to charge an unreasonable amount to lease the property for a potential market. Addressing environmental concerns at the former landfill site would also be costly, and Donato-Weinstein said it could cost $2 million per acre of remediation.
The existing market site is set to become a transit-oriented development near the BART station with 3,500 homes and 3.4 million square feet of mixed space. A slimmed down proposal with 940 homes was put forth last year, but has been withdrawn.
Roberto Gonzalez, president of the Berryessa Flea Market Vendors Association which represents the 450-plus vendors, said even though the process is “tied up in time,” vendors will get a one-year notice before being evicted from the site.
“What we’re looking for now is not just continued collaboration with the city and commitment from the Office of Economic Development, but also from the mayor and City Council that they are not going to let the pugla (market) disappear,” Gonzalez told San José Spotlight.
The relocation study from Greensfelder Real Estate Strategy found the Berryessa Flea Market draws customers from an area larger than similar markets like the West Wind Capitol Flea Market. The Berryessa market’s proximity to several freeways is among the reasons for long-term success. It has an estimated operating income of $5.7 million.
Erik Schoennauer, a consultant representing the flea market landowners, the Bumb family, said the owners are supportive of efforts to identify a new market site.
“It would be helpful to accelerate the process, so that we can ensure a seamless and orderly transition to a new location,” Schoennauer told San José Spotlight.
Councilmember David Cohen last year helped broker an agreement with the Bumb family to keep it open for another two years while relocation efforts continue, but consultants described the earliest possible closure date of Jan. 1, 2026 as “an extremely compressed timeframe for the relocation.”
Cohen did not respond to requests for comment.
“We very deeply appreciate that this is the vendors’ and the businesses’ livelihoods, but we honor you and we’re trying to find a way to transition (the market),” Economic Development and Cultural Affairs Director Nanci Klein said at the meeting. “It’s challenging not to have the satisfaction or security of knowing a precise answer, but we’re not there yet.”
An alternative flea market site and its vendors would likely require financial support to keep it running, according to the relocation study, and city officials said Wednesday they do not plan to subsidize a potential new market.
“We don’t want to create a new market tomorrow, or say a month from now, we know it’s going to take time,” Gonzalez told San José Spotlight. “And obviously we have to let folks know that the flea market is still open right now — so come visit us, go ahead and shop local. Hopefully we could recapture that into whatever new pulga we create.”
Contact Vicente Vera at [email protected] or follow @VicenteJVera on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story did not mention the slimmed down development proposal has been withdrawn.
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